LAHORE: The Salman Siddique-Misbah panel yet again swept the Lahore Gymkhana annual elections, while the opponent panel could claim only two seats in the 12-member body.

The Salman-Misbah panel’s 10 candidates that won the elections are: Salman Siddique (1,788 votes), Wajid Aziz Khan (1751 votes), Mian Misbah-ur-Rehman (1,665 votes), Samad Nadeem (1647 votes), Mian Parvez Bhandara (1,461 votes), Samaira Nazir Siddiqui (1,392 votes), Sardar Qasim Farooq Ali (1,366 votes), Khawaja Imran Zubair (1,356 votes), Mian Waqaruddin (Vicky) (1,331 votes) and Shaukat Javed (1,322 votes).

Dr Ali Razaque, of the opponent panel, remained top scorer with 1,923 votes for the third consecutive time.

He had parted ways with the Salman-Misbah panel and launched his own panel. His panel candidate Qamar Khan (Bobby) grabbed 12th slot with 1,247 votes.

Announcing the election results, the election commissioner notified that 27 candidates had participated in the poll held on Saturday in a peaceful atmosphere.

He stated that 3,015 votes were polled, while 41 votes were cancelled with mutual consent of polling agents of the candidates.

Speaking to Dawn, Dr Razaque said his new panel fielded fresh candidates and would continue introducing new faces so that they could bring in new ideas and upgrade club facilities for the members. He said he would continue his fight for merit and transparency in the club’s affairs.

Asserting that the club elections should continue to be held every year, Dr Razaque suggested that elected members, including the club chairman, should not contest elections after serving three terms, and make way for the fresh candidates.

Dr Razaque said car parking had become a serious issue in the club and needed to be addressed immediately, besides developing a proper parking system.

He acknowledged that more sports facilities were required, including new equipment for gymnasium and swimming pool heating system.

Published in Dawn, February 17th, 2025